'Geography affects levels of pollution'

A country's geography could have a significant impact on the amount of carbon dioxide it produces, new research suggests.

Wealth has long been seen as the key factor in determining the level of carbon dioxide produced, with western nations causing greater pollution than developing states.

But a study published today in the Royal Geographical Society's respected journal Area indicates that climate, population and natural resources could all affect greenhouse gas emissions.

Countries with cold average minimum temperatures or a large number of frosty days produced more carbon dioxide in meeting heating requirements.

Large nations with scattered populations suffered high pollution as a result of their reliance on transport.

By contrast, countries blessed with renewable energy resources, such as high-altitude lakes capable of producing hydro-electric power, were likely to have lower emissions.

The report, based on data from 163 countries, challenges the foundations of the 1997 Kyoto protocol, which based targets for greenhouse gas reductions primarily on economic analysis.

Its author, Dr Eric Neumayer, of the London School of Economics's department of geography and environment, said future discussions on reducing carbon dioxide emissions should take account of a country's physical characteristics.

"It is often argued that high emitters should face more stringent emission reductions than low emitters," he said. "One needs to ask, however, why emissions are higher in one country than in another."

But one expert, Dr Stephen Dorling, of the school of environmental sciences at the University of East Anglia, said the effect of geography on emissions might be small.